


Crimson

by GreenRoyale



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, The Hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 12:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20064193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenRoyale/pseuds/GreenRoyale
Summary: All is fair in love and warAnd all that's left is crimson





	Crimson

**Author's Note:**

> This work is unbeta'd. If you find any typo or errors, please flag it in the comments and I will fix it as soon as I can. Thank you!

Sweat was dripping to the ground off his brow, and along with it was blood. His chest heaves up and down as he hunches over, holding himself up with his fist and nothing less than determination. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, the lull of sounds was simply deafening.

"Stop," his adversary said, voice sweet as honey and yet sharp as the blades she wield. "You're going to die."

Her voice was cold and emotionless, like she meant every word she said not out of affection but as a promise. The blade glistened as the eye of it pressed upon his nape, ready to claim the life it had always hungered for.

He knew that another move was all it would take for his life to end. All it takes was one simply move and everything he has come to know and love would cease to exist. He would cease to exist.

As he ponders his next move, he could do nothing else but spit onto the ground and stain it crimson.

Just like what he was wearing, just the same as what she too was wearing.

Just the same as the blood that flows through their veins. And the love they once shared. Crimson. 

"Stop," she warns once more, pressing the blade dangerously close to the base of his skull as she feels him shift. "Nothing you do will matter. You cannot stop us, you cannot stop  _ me _ ."

"Then why don't you kill me?" He asks, the gravel heavy in his voice as he chokes between words and red spit. He could feel the cold metal upon his skin, for all he knows the moisture he feels dripping down his back was blood and not sweat. But it mattered less than what truly means more to him at this point of time.  _ Her. _

The breeze that once gave a cool refreshing comfort, the scent of the city that brings memories of the past, could only pass them by right now. It was like time had frozen for the both of them as they stayed where they were, one at the mercy of the other as history repeats itself.

Over and again they find themselves in the same position. Over and again they meet one another in such circumstances. Though painful for both of them, they still meet at the same crossroads.

"You know why," she said, voice still as cold as the night. "Join me, Matthew. Nobody else knows you like I do. We can do so much more together."

"Why can't you join me instead?"

She barks a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief of what she was hearing. She had to walk around him, with the blade still trained upon his neck. Coming down to his level, she grabbed his hair and made him look up at her. The blade was pressed to the hollow of his throat just to let him know that she meant nothing but business.

"When will you snap out of it, Matthew? When will you realise that no matter how long you hide behind that holy mask of yours, you are just like me," she taunts, her tone mocking and he let her press closer. 

He could feel her breath on his skin, she was so close and yet so very far.

"I will never stop coming after you, Elektra," he whispers.

"And I will never stop beating you," she returns. "You can never stop me. The Hand is so close to taking the city down, they're taking it down as we speak. You cannot protect the city, Matthew. Just like you couldn't protect me. And now you will sit here helplessly watching your city as I burn it to the ground."

It took only a moment for her to lapse and for him to grab her blade. They were back into the battle as they grappled for the blades in an attempt to pin one another down. She had the skills and flexibility that he made up with experience and strength, making them evenly matched.

The only difference was that he fought to stop her, while she fought to kill him.

While their battle carried on, the city was engulfed in flames. The night sky was now a deep shade of red as it reflects the heat that the city and its people were blanketed with. Sirens and screams filled the air, all of which deeply affects him and yet he could do nothing for them. He had the means to, there was nothing he wouldn't give if it meant his city remains safe and at peace. That was the reason he first donned the suit after all, it was the reason he first raised his fist and it remains to be the reason why he was up here on a roof and in a wrestling match with the one person who could contend his love for the city.

"Listen to that, listen to the screams," she snarls as she finally comes down onto the hard floor when he pins her down. "Your city is in peril, Matthew. And what could the devil of Hell's kitchen do? Nothing!"

"Stop it, Elektra. You can still stop this."

"There is no stopping me," she said, raising the blade to slice him in the face when she caught the opportunity.

He grabbed the blade and tossed it away, he was not about to let her get her way. Not this time. As he pins both her hands down onto the ground, they stopped and held the positions for a moment.

If they had been told that they would be in this position so many years ago, perhaps they would have just laughed. It was a position they weren't unfamiliar with, but how they wished the situation was just different. What would he give to have things back to what it had been before?

Simple, pure, affectionate.

Now it is nothing but hurt and deceit.

Whatever he felt within him, must be resonating within her as well. It showed for the first time tonight as she pushes up to kiss him passionately. The bitter taste of blood was on both their tongues, the taste of its colour as they finally showed what remained in their souls. It was hurting them both to do this, and yet it had to be done.

With one strong kick, she moved him off of her and rolled over to grab at the weapon that she had lost earlier in the fight. 

It was just like a gun. A really big one that evidently should not even be in the hands of someone already so deadly.

"You do recognise this, don't you?" She asks mockingly.

They were both low to the ground as they tried to recover their spirits for this fight. It had been long and exhausting, neither knew how long more they could go on for. But they would fight this with their lives on the line.

"Your dear friend with impenetrable skin must have told you all about it. I'm not a gun girl myself, you already know that. But you also know I will stop at nothing to do what needs to be done."

The man frowned as he hears her speak, a hand up as if to calm her down. She was a distance away, he had to calculate the possibility of taking her down safely. She was right, however, of him hearing about that gun.

"They say the bullets can pierce through even the best of bulletproof vests. You think your little red suit can withstand this?"

A click distracted them both when they heard it, and they both knew that the door to the roof had just been opened. Someone else was coming up here, and with all the chaos that was happening he could tell who it was.

"You don't have to do this, Elektra," he said, cradling his injured arm. 

"Then stop me," she said, aiming straight for the unsuspecting civilian and pulling the trigger.

He had no other choice but to grab the other discarded blade and toss it right at her, but in no way to harm her. It was only to distract her, which worked only for a moment as she turned to dodge it only to be met with him tackling her down and away from the roof door.

He had taken her off the roof and down to the wooden scaffolding that was up upon the side of the building. Their combined weight and the sheer force of his assault had caused it to give way, taking them both down to the ground. Though slower than it would have been had they been free falling off a four storey building, it was still no more a comforting land than they would expect it to be. The two of them grunted and groaned as they laid there on the gravel. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he turned to where she would have landed.

He knew the ragged breathing that came from her meant something no good, and he moved to get to her. Only then did he notice the large crack on the chest of his red suit. 

That injury hurt a lot less than what he was sensing in front of him at this moment as he clambered over to pick her up. A large rod was sticking out of her abdomen, evidently a part of the scaffolding that had given way.

"No," he whispered, chanting it like a prayer that he meant every breath of. "No, no, no! Elektra. No, I'm so sorry… you'll be alright. Just… just hang on."

"Matthew," she whispered, lying there in his arms as she bleeds. "Is this how my every life would end?"

"No, no. Don't say that, just hold on," he said, his hands shaking as he held onto her. "Someone's heard the explosion, they're coming. You'll be fine. Elektra, you can't leave me. Not again. Not again…"

"Mathew," she whispers, reaching up to touch his face.

Her eyes were wide and glassy, the flames of the city dancing in their reflection. She could feel her heart beating quickly, the blood leaving her body just like her life was. In her mind, there was no other way she would have had this. She was looking up at the first thing she knew to love, and the last.

Her hand slowly trailed down his features, her sight leaving her in darkness and her hearing only leaving her with his cries of regret. It was the end of her.

As he weeps for the loss of a life, the loss of a love, he finds himself unable to move. She was in his arms, he was on his knees. If he could turn back time, he would have done everything to stop this. If he could only…

Blood had begun sputtering out of his mouth, evidence that he was in no better shape than she had been. It was not a mere crack in his suit that showed over his chest, it was more than that. He didn't know what it was but he could feel it. There was something lodged within him that he knew was causing him the pain.

Yet, he stayed there on the cold drenched floor of the filthy alleys. He clutched onto her lifeless body like it meant everything to him. He was exhausted from all the fighting. It just never seemed to end.

So he held what was true to him. He held her closer, locking his fingers together so she would not fall from him no matter what. He held strong, as strong as they had both been fighting each other for their whole lives.

If only circumstances were different.

The blood dripped to the ground in steady beats, like the ticking of a clock. He could feel the metal piece moving within him. It must be a shrapnel of the bullet that had found its way in his chest, he tried not to focus on it as the pain seared through him. And finally, it found its way out from the back of his suit, taking a piece of him with it.

The police coming to investigate the chaos could have done nothing even if they had come earlier. All they found in the alley was the devil's of hell's kitchen, unmasked and holding a wanted criminal… but they were both gone.

They had come only to find nothing.

Nothing but crimson.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was a good read! Comments and kudos are most welcome. Thank you for reading and have a great day!


End file.
